Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program

Overview

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Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA). National Institute of Food
and Agriculture (NIFA) recognizes research, education, and extension efforts will have the
greatest impacts when programs are grounded in DEIA. NIFA is committed to enhancing
diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility of programs and encourages individuals,
institutions, and organizations from underserved communities to apply to funding opportunities
as lead, co-lead, or subaward recipient(s), and to engage as leaders in the peer panel review
process to support the development of strong networks and collaborations. NIFA encourages
applications that engage diverse communities and have broad impacts through research,
education, extension, and integrated activities to address current and future challenges.

Leadership Skills Development.

The development of leadership skills, knowledge, and qualities are necessary to prepare students for agricultural and related careers in the private sector, government, and academia. HSI Education Grants Program teaching applications must demonstrably incorporate a leadership development component to equip students with technical and leadership abilities upon graduation. Specific activities may include:

1. Developing practical applications to increase understanding of leadership roles, including critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills; ethics and professionalism; and working in teams;
2. Connecting the academic classroom experience with daily leadership roles and organizational activities;
3. Providing opportunities for mentoring and shadowing; and 4.Organizing leadership academies, workshops, trainings, etc.

Social and behavioral science disciplines.

Projects that integrate social and behavioral sciences with biological sciences to provide experiential learning opportunities for students in community development programs are encouraged. Incorporation of social and behavioral sciences is important for addressing many of the challenges facing agriculture and rural communities, such as increasing global demand for food production in the face of limited natural resources, improving health and reducing obesity by engaging in heathy diets, and alleviating poverty by fostering economic opportunity.

The purpose of the HSI Education Grants Program is to encourage innovative teaching or
education proposals with potential to impact and become models for other institutions that serve
underrepresented students at the regional or national level.

Projects supported by this program must include/address one or more of the following goals:

1. Attract and support undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups to prepare them for careers related to the food, agricultural natural resources, and human systems and sciences in the United States.
2. Enhance the quality of postsecondary instruction within the above disciplines.
3. Provide opportunities and access to food and agricultural careers in the public, non-profit and private sectors.
4. Align the efforts of HSIs and other non-profit organizations to support academic development and career attainment of underrepresented groups. 

Project Types
The following describes the types of projects or grants that are eligible for funding:
 

Education/Teaching Projects. Single-function Education/Teaching Projects develop
human capital relevant to overall program goals for U.S. agriculture. Projects should
focus on developing skills necessary for entry- and mid-level technical employment
or for entering graduate programs in FANH.

Community Development Projects. Single-function community development Projects must deliver science-based knowledge and informal educational programs that lead to practical decision making. Program delivery may range from community-based to national audiences and use communication methods from faceto-face to electronic or a combination thereof. Community Development projects will be funded as Regular projects.

There are three grant types for the HSIs Education Grants Program: 

Regular grant. The Regular Grants support targeted, original, scientific Education/
Teaching Projects and Community Development Projects

Collaboration Grant. Collaboration Grants for this program must be submitted by a
group of two or more HSIs forming a linkage arrangement for the purpose of carrying
out common objective(s) on the group’s behalf. The arrangement must be formed to
promote and strengthen the institutional abilities to carry out higher education
programs related to FANH . Collaboration grants must support Education/Teaching
Projects. Collaboration grants for Community Development Projects will not be
accepted.

Conference Grants. Conference Grants support scientific meetings that bring together educators to identify research, education/teaching, and/or extension needs, update information, or advance an area of education/teaching.

For FY 2023, an institution may not submit more than two Collaboration and two Conference applications to this program, as a lead institution each year. 

• The application to the internal competition for Conference projects is available HERE.
• The application to the internal competition for Collaboration projects is available HERE.

There is no limit on the number of Regular applications to be submitted by an institution.

Maximum Award Amount:

Regular – Approx. $400,000;
Collaboration – Approx. $1,000,000;
Conference – Approx. $50,000 

Anticipated # of Awards:

Regular – 10 
Collaboration – 2-4
Conference – 2

Grant Duration:

48 Months – Regular and Collaboration
36 Months – Conference